I've never made it to CES ... I'm still one of those internet lurkers that reads everything I can about it when it's on! So I have some questions!

I'm curious what stood out to people who went? What was the best thing you saw? The most innovative use of exhibition space? Most innovative thing? One key standout product? Most surprising thing you saw? Biggest trend on the floor (was it really self driving cars and friendly robots, or did they just get the most online coverage?). Is it like other trade shows, where you wish you could see everything, but spend a lot of time in meetings?

Sophie, my team is putting together our recap this week. I'll be sure to post some of our thoughts. We have a team spread out and scour the entire show as well as the Venetian where all the high end audio companies show.

Having been my first time at CES i was quite excited. Entering the area you get to touch and explore so many beautiful thoughtful objects. I have to admit as i worked my way through, i found the majority or products to be pretty derivative and expected. Drones that look like DJI drones, action cameras that look like Gopros etc. A lot of knockoffs which was discouraging. But there were some great gems, both in great thoughtfully designed products, but also booths, displays and nice people. I particularly am a sucker for automotive concepts and was not disappointed aside from not being able to get too close to them. Was really excited to see the new Mercedes van up close, awesome surfaces and amazing assembly, how do they get such large compound surfaces with no break??? I assume some type of composite over buck, rather than metal. I spent most of my time in the AR/VR, drones, home automation area. Hopefully will be more involved in teh design next year. Some really cool drones there, dont know enough about the category to discuss though. The best booths to me were the automotive, plenty of space to take in their experience and all thoughtfully done. Overall my favorite part was to chat with people coming by our booth, helping them to understand my design decisions and seeing people get excited about something I was honored to be involved with.

It is amazing how many imitators or straight up knock offs there are. It is amazing that these companies go through all the trouble of having a booth on the show floor and don't bother to have an original product.

I guess their strategy is to grab vendors who want what they just saw at the GoPro booth, but at a fraction the price without the service, brand recognition, design, etc. That seems risky though. It can't be cheap doing CES, and I would figure the knock-offs would be pretty lost amongst the brands.

Ray Jepson

"The key to success in this business is to find a boss who doesn't care." - Mike Rowe